Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

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Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany
Date3 September 1972
4 September 1972
7 September 1972
Competitors64 from 49 nations
Winning time44.66
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Vince Matthews
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Wayne Collett
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Julius Sang
 Kenya
← 1968
1976 →
Athletics at the
1972 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmenwomen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
100 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4 × 100 m relaymenwomen
4 × 400 m relaymenwomen
Road events
Marathonmen
20 km walkmen
50 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Pentathlonwomen
Decathlonmen

The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 3, 4 and 7 September.[1] Sixty-four athletes from 49 nations competed.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Vince Matthews of the United States, the nation's fifth consecutive and 12th overall victory in the event (all by different men). The Americans' hopes to repeat their podium sweep of four years earlier were dashed by injury in the final. Bronze medalist Julius Sang became the first black African to win a sprint Olympic medal, earning Kenya's first medal in the event.

On the victory podium,

IOC banned them from further competition. Since the third American competitor, John Smith
, had pulled a hamstring while leading 80 metres into the final and had been ruled unfit to run, the United States were left unable to field a 4 x 400 relay team, and were thus forced to scratch from the event.

Background

This was the seventeenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Three finalists, but no medalists, from 1968 returned: fourth-place finisher Amadou Gakou of Senegal, sixth-place Tegegne Bezabeh of Ethiopia, and seventh-place Andrzej Badeński of Poland (who had won bronze in 1964). Despite the complete turnover from their 1968 podium sweep, the United States team was again favored—this time led by John Smith, the 440-yard world record holder and AAU champion.[2]

Benin, Cambodia, the Republic of the Congo, Fiji, Kuwait, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Paraguay, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Zambia appeared in this event for the first time. The United States made its seventeenth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.

Competition format

The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1964, was applied in the first round and quarterfinals. There were 9, each scheduled to have 7 or 8 athletes but some with only 6 starters. The top four runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals along with the next four fastest overall. The 5 quarterfinals each had 8 runners; the top three athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals, with one spot for the next fastest finisher. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 8 runners each. The top four runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making an eight-man final.[2][3]

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  
Lee Evans
 (USA)		 43.86 Mexico City, Mexico 18 October 1968
Olympic record  
Lee Evans (USA
)		 43.86 Mexico City, Mexico 18 October 1968

No world or Olympic records were set during this event.

Schedule

All times are

UTC+1
)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 3 September 1972 16:00 Round 1
Monday, 4 September 1972 11:35
17:45		 Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Thursday, 7 September 1972 17:30 Final

Results

Round 1

The top four runners in each of the nine heats (darker green) and the next four fastest (lighter green), advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Andrzej Badeński  Poland 46.21 Q
2 3 Charles Joseph  Trinidad and Tobago 46.38 Q
3 5 Mulugetta Tadesse  Ethiopia 46.38 Q
4 7 Wickremasinghe Wimaladasa  Ceylon 46.62 Q
5 2
Bjarni Sefánsson
  Iceland 46.76 q
6 6
Jozo Alebić
  Yugoslavia 47.01
7 8 Silver Ayoo  Uganda 47.04
8 1 Nusrat Iqbal Sahi  Pakistan 49.57

Heat 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2
David Jenkins
  Great Britain 46.15 Q
2 7 Anders Faager  Sweden 46.29 Q
3 8 Munyoro Nyamau  Kenya 46.33 Q
4 5 Omar Ghizlat  Morocco 46.37 Q
5 3 Bruce Ijirighwo  Nigeria 46.59 q
6 6 Samuela Yavala  Fiji 47.76
7 1 Théophile Nkounkou  Republic of the Congo 47.86
8 4 Francisco Menocal  Nicaragua 50.96

Heat 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 8 Georg Nückles  West Germany 46.64 Q
2 6 Yoshiharu Tomonaga  Japan 47.01 Q
3 3 Francis Kerbiriou  France 47.01 Q
4 1 Sam Bugri  Ghana 47.83 Q
5 2 Thomas N'Ma  Liberia 49.73
6 5 Jean-Max Faustin  Haiti 52.33
— — Marcello Fiasconaro  Italy DNS
— Michael Frederiksson  Sweden DNS

Heat 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Alberto Juantorena  Cuba 45.94 Q
2 1 Wayne Collett  United States 46.00 Q
3 3 Claver Kamanya  Tanzania 46.18 Q
4 4 Gilles Bertould  France 46.36 Q
5 2 Eric Phillips  Venezuela 46.74 q
6 7 Pedro Ferrer  Puerto Rico 47.90
7 7 Nicodemus Maipampe  Zambia 48.84

Heat 5

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2 Tegegne Bezabeh  Ethiopia 45.88 Q
2 1 Vince Matthews  United States 45.94 Q
3 7 Angelo Hussein  Sudan 47.01 Q
4 3 Robert Ojo  Nigeria 47.03 Q
5 5 Fanahan McSweeney  Ireland 47.07
6 6 Fernando Silva  Portugal 47.67
7 4 Kassem Hamzé  Lebanon 49.20

Heat 6

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 8 Charles Asati  Kenya 45.16 Q
2 5 Leighton Priestley  Jamaica 45.75 Q
3 2 Fernando Acevedo  Peru 45.80 Q
4 6 Jan Werner  Poland 45.93 Q
5 4 Gary Armstrong  Great Britain 46.48 q
6 3 Francisco Rojas  Paraguay 47.46
7 1 Brian MacLaren  Canada 47.65
— — Caspar Springer  Barbados DNF

Heat 7

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Julius Sang  Kenya 45.24 Q
2 1 Martin Reynolds  Great Britain 46.46 Q
3 2 Daniel Velasques  France 46.70 Q
4 3 Karl Honz  West Germany 46.77 Q
5 7 Franklin Rahming  Bahamas 48.30
6 6 Ibrahima Idrissou  
Benin
 48.50
7 4 William Msiska  Malawi 48.81

Heat 8

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske  West Germany 45.27 Q
2 7 John Smith  United States 46.00 Q
3 1 Kyriakos Onisiforou  Greece 46.94 Q
4 5 Reza Entezari  Iran 47.89 Q
5 6 Mohamed Saad  Kuwait 49.61
6 4 Mohamed Jaman Al-Dosari  Saudi Arabia 49.67
— — Lucijano Sušanj  Yugoslavia DNS

Heat 9

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 6 Markku Kukkoaho  Finland 46.05 Q
2 3 Zbigniew Jaremski  Poland 46.20 Q
3 7 Arthur Cooper  Trinidad and Tobago 47.15 Q
4 8 Amadou Gakou  Senegal 47.68 Q
5 4 Tambusamy Krishnan  Malaysia 48.31
6 1 Frédérique Andrianaivo  Madagascar 48.72
7 5 Savin Chem  
Khmer Republic
 48.82
— — Jimmy Sierra  Colombia DNS

Quarterfinals

The top three runners in each of the five heats, and the next fastest, advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2 Wayne Collett  United States 45.80 Q
2 6 Alberto Juantorena  Cuba 45.96 Q
3 7 Jan Werner  Poland 46.02 Q
4 5 Martin Reynolds  Great Britain 46.11 q
5 1 Charles Joseph  Trinidad and Tobago 46.14
6 8 Robert Ojo  Nigeria 46.73
7 4 Omar Ghizlat  Morocco 46.84
8 3 Sam Bugri  Ghana 47.34

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2 Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske  West Germany 45.41 Q
2 3 Vince Matthews  United States 45.62 Q
3 6 Tegegne Bezabeh  Ethiopia 45.97 Q
4 1 Gilles Bertould  France 46.14
5 5 Wickremasinghe Wimaladasa  Ceylon 46.50
6 7 Leighton Priestley  Jamaica 47.76
7 4
Arthur Cooper
  Trinidad and Tobago 48.29
8 8 Reza Entezari  Iran 48.69

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 7
David Jenkins
  Great Britain 45.99 Q
2 8 John Smith  United States 46.04 Q
3 4 Markku Kukkoaho  Finland 46.11 Q
4 3 Munyoro Nyamau  Kenya 46.80
5 2 Bruce Ijirighwo  Nigeria 46.81
6 6 Daniel Velasques  France 46.91
7 5 Amadou Gakou  Senegal 46.96
8 1 Angelo Hussein  Sudan 47.33

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Karl Honz  West Germany 45.87 Q
2 7 Julius Sang  Kenya 45.92 Q
3 5 Zbigniew Jaremski  Poland 46.52 Q
4 1 Anders Faager  Sweden 46.54
5 4 Francis Kerbiriou  France 46.63
6 2 Yoshiharu Tomonaga  Japan 46.92
7 6 Gary Armstrong  Great Britain 47.10
8 8 Kyriakos Onisiforou  Greece 47.22

Quarterfinal 5

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 1 Charles Asati  Kenya 46.04 Q
2 5 Andrzej Badeński  Poland 46.19 Q
3 4 Georg Nückles  West Germany 46.30 Q
4 8 Claver Kamanya  Tanzania 46.55
5 6 Mulugetta Tadesse  Ethiopia 46.85
6 7 Bjarni Stefánsson  Iceland 46.92
7 2 Eric Phillips  Venezuela 46.97
— 3 Fernando Acevedo  Peru DNS

Semifinals

Top four in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Vince Matthews  United States 44.94 Q
2 3 Karl Honz  West Germany 45.32 Q
3 1 John Smith  United States 45.46 Q
4 2 Charles Asati  Kenya 45.47 Q
5 8
David Jenkins
  Great Britain 45.91
6 6 Tegegne Bezabeh  Ethiopia 45.98
7 5 Georg Nückles  West Germany 46.28
8 7 Andrzej Badeński  Poland 46.38

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 1 Julius Sang  Kenya 45.30 Q
2 3 Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske  West Germany 45.62 Q
3 2 Wayne Collett  United States 45.77 Q
4 4 Markku Kukkoaho  Finland 46.02 Q
5 5 Alberto Juantorena  Cuba 46.07
6 8 Jan Werner  Poland 46.26
7 7 Martin Reynolds  Great Britain 46.71
— 6 Zbigniew Jaremski  Poland DNS

Final

Smith was leading at 80 metres when he pulled his hamstring and could not finish.

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) 2 Vince Matthews  United States 44.66
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3 Wayne Collett  United States 44.80
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 Julius Sang  Kenya 44.92
4 8 Charles Asati  Kenya 45.13
5 7 Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske  West Germany 45.31
6 4 Markku Kukkoaho  Finland 45.49
7 1 Karl Honz  West Germany 45.68
— 6 John Smith  United States DNF

References

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 50.

External links

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